Refrigerating apparatus



Jan. 20, 1931 FQ'fHORNTON, JR- ,78

REFRIGERATING-APPARATUS Filed Feb. 4. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l IIJVENTOR Em mmk ATTORNEY Jan.20, 1931. F. THORNTON, JR .,7 I

I REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed Fb. 4. 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I V ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 20, 1931-- UNITED STATES PATENT oat-Ice FRANK THORNTON, JR, OF MANSFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MANUFACTURING COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA REFRIGERATIN G APPARATUS Application filed February}, 1929. Serial No. 337,209.

My invention relates to refrigerating apparatus, and more particularly to refrigeratin apparatus of the household type.

lt is an object of my invention to provide a compact unitary structure which may be completely assembled at the factory and then installed 1n the refrigerator box.

More specifically, my invention has for its object to provide a compact top unit, that is, a unit in which the heat-dissipating unit is disposed above the heat-absorbin' unit, which may be installedin, and remove from, the refrigerator box without, in anyway,

mutilating an insulating wall of the box by 15 requiring that a portion of the well be carried through the assembly line.

Another object is to provide a top unit which may be removed horizontally from the box, thereby eliminating the necessity of breaking the insulated portion of the top wall and, at the same time, greatly simplifyingtheinstallation of the unit in the box.

Other objects and advantages of my in- 2 vention will be readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fi ure 1 is a perspective view of a refrigerator x or cabinet having the refrigerating unit applied thereto in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a portion of a refrigerator box of another type to which a refrigerating unit may be r ap lied in'accordance with my invention;

" ig. 3' is a perspective view of a unitary refrigerating a paratus adapted to be applied horizonta y to a refrigerator box, and

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a removable portion of a bracing strip.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a box similar to that shown in Fig. 2, with the refrigerating unit in place.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a finishing str1 v F dr several reasons, a unitary household refrigeratin .unit adapted to bereadily apliedto, and removed from, a refrigerating ox is desirable. Chief among these reasons is that the unit may be assembled char ed 5 and tested at the factory and then shipped to the dealer who may installit in a box without the necessity of re-assembling and retesting the unit, as is commonly the case with household units now in use.

Another important reason is that a unitary structure may be readily removed from the box and a replacement unit installed, in

the event that servicing is necessary, without the-service man being required to disconnect the heat-absorbin unit which is located in the insulated col -retaining chambers from the heat-dissipating unit, which is generally located exterlorly of the insulated chamber. Unitary structures of the top unit type have heretofore been proposed in which an opening of considerable size was rovided in the top wall of the insulated cham er through which the evaporator was inserted, the evaporator bein suspended from an insulated base which 0 osed the openin and also served as a support for the heatissipating unit, which may comprise a motor, compressor and condenser set.

Such an arrangement has the disadvantage that the insulated base, which is actually a removable top Wall of the refrigerator box, must be carried through the assembly line, while the refrigerating unit is being assembled and tested, and, as one or both sides of the base will usually be made'of porcelainized metal or a similar highly finished structure, there is considerable risk that the finish will be marred. Moreover, the heat leakage through My arrangement does away with these 9 undesirable features by providing that the' assembled unit may be installed in a refrigerator box,'withthe evaporator below the heatdissipating unit, without cutting or piercing the insulated portion of the top wall.

- the base and perpendicular thereto, while the 15 long arm of the L extends parallel to the base,

at a distance therefrom, spaced sufficiently to permit the passage of the top insulating wall of the cold-storage chamber between the base and the long arm of the L. This portion of the pipes has the evaporator suspended there from, and the conduits and thermostat conductors pass through the hollow pipes from the evaporator to the heat-dissipating unit and the control switch.

The refrigerator box to which this unit is applied may have vertical grooves provided in the horizontal bracing member which passes across the top of the box, for receiving the short arms of the L-shaped pipes, and the unit is fixed rigidly against displacement thereof by astrip which is bolted to the bracing member and may be provided with grooves to fit the protruding portion of the said pipes.

A finishing strip of the material of which the exterior surface of the box is made may then be attached to the aforementioned strip to give the box a finished appearance.

Referring to the drawings for a detailed description of my invention, 10 designates a refrigerator box having an insulated storage chamber 11 provided with shelves 13 for articles to be cooled or preserved. The storage chamber is closed by doors 14. Beneath the storage chamber 11 is provided non-insulated storage receptacle 15, for receiving non-perishable articles.

The top front horizontal bracing strip 16 of the box is made in two portions, 17 and 18, the portion 18 (Fig. 4) being removable.

' This portion is adapted to be fastened to portion 17 by suitable means, such as bolts 19. Two semi-circular vertical grooves 20 and 21 are cut in each portion of the bracing strip and are so spaced that, when the two portions 17 and 18 are bolted together, two spaced vertical cylindrical holes are formed through'the bracing strip 16.

The refrigerating uriit, adapted to be inserted in and removed from the box 10, comprises a base 22 which has mounted thereon a motor-compressor unit 23 and a condenser 24. The condenser is air-cooled by means of a fan 25, driven by any suitable means such, for example, as a magnetieclutch described in a 00- pending application of Matson C. Terry Serial No. 316,068 filed October 30, 1928, and assigned to the YVestinghouse Electric & Man ufacturing Company.

Two L-shaped supporting members 26 and 27 are suspended from the base 22 at spaced intervals, with the short arms 28, 29 of each L at right angles to the base and the long arms 30 and 31 extending parallel to the base, as shown in Fig. 3. Each of the short arms 28 and 29 may have a short portion thereof bent over the top side of the base to which the L-shaped members are rigidly attached by straps 32 and 33 which may be bolted or otherwise secured to the base.

The long arms 30 and 31 have suspended therefrom by suitable means, such as straps 36, the evaporator 37. An expansion valve 38 and a thermostat 39 are carried on the evaporator. 40 indicates the pipe for conducting condensed refrigerant to the expansion valve,

while 41 indicates the return pipe for returning the expanded refrigerant from the evaporator to the compressor.

The supporting members 26 and 27 are preferably made of hollow pipe, so that the conduits 40 and 41 may be carried through member 26, while the conductors connecting thermostat 39 with motor-control switch 42 which is carried on 1 base 22, are carried through member 27. a

The refrigerating unit above described may be inserted, with the evaporator 37, inside the insulated chamber 11, and the heatdissipating unit above and outside said chamber, by resting the base 22 on the top insulated wall 43 of the box and sliding the unit horizontally until the short arms of the L-shaped members are received in the grooves provided in the portion 17 of bracing strip 16. Portion 18 of the bracing strip is then bolted in place, and a finishing strip 44 (Fig. 6) may then be screwed or otherwise fastened to portion 18 to give the box a finished appearance.

To remove the refrigerating unit, it is only necessary to remove strip 44 and portion 18 and slide the unit out horizontally. A casing 45, provided with louvres 46, for the admis-,

si on of air, may be placed over theheat-dissipating unit on the top of the box..

In Figs. 2 and 5, I have shown a refrigerating box provided with -a fixed upper noninsulated compartment 47 and a lower in sulated cooling compartment47'. The upper front horizontal bracing strip may be constructed exactly as is the one described for the box shown in Fig. 1. The upper compartment is provided with a partition wall 48, dividing the compartment into a section 49 adapted to receive the heat-dissipating unit and a section 50 which may be used to store non perishable articles. Doors 51 and 52 are provided for elosingthese compartments.

An advantage of this formof construction, wherein an upper machine compartment claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a refrigerating apparatus, a base adapted to rest on the top insulated wall of a refrigerator box. a refrigerant medium circulating unit mounted on said base, a cooling unit suspended from said base beneath said insulated wall. and conduits interconnecting said units. characterized by the fact that the box is so constructed that the assembled and interconnected units may be removed from the box only in a horizontal direction.

2. A unitary refrigerating structure comprising a base, a heat-dissipating unit mounted on the base, a heat-absorbing unit located beneath the base, and means for supporting the heat-absorbing unit from the base in spaced relation thereto, said means comprising at least one L-shaped hollow pipe having one arm thereof substantially perpendicular to and fastened to the base at one end thereof and the other arm substantially parallel to the base said parallel arm having the heatabsorbing unit fixed thereto. and refrigerant conduits interconnecting said units, said conduits paralleling the L-shaped pipe.

3. In combination, a. refrigerator box havinga-n opening in a vertical wall thereof. a base adapted to rest on the top wall of said box, a motor. compressor and condenser mounted on said base, an evaporator suspended from said base. and operative interconnections between the compressor, condenser and evaporator, said box being so constructed that the interconnected compressor, condenser and evaporator may be removed from the box only in a horizontal direction, with the evaporator passing through the opening in the vertical wall.

4. A unitary refrigerating apparatus comprising a base, a heat-dissipating unit mounted on the base, a heat-absorbing unit located and interconnecting said compressor, condenser and evaporator.

(i. Refrigerating apparatus comprising operatively interconnected heat-dissipating and heat-absorbing units mounted with the heatabsorbing unit located vertically beneath and close to the heat-dissipating unit but spacedtherefrom; and a refrigerator cabinet having fixed and integral insulated walls, said units being so arranged that they may be applied to the cabinet in a horizontal direction with the heat-dissipating unit resting on the permanent top insulated cabinet wall and the heatabsorbing unit suspended from the heat-dissipating unit and located inside the cabinet beneath the permanent top insulated wall.

7.' Refrigerating apparatus comprising a heat-dissipating unit and a heat-absorbing unit mounted with the heat-absorbing unit suspended from and located beneath and close to the heat-dissipating unit but spaced therefrom, conduits interconnecting said units: and a refrigerator cabinet having insulated walls defining a storage chamber, the top insulated wallbeing fixed and integral with the cabinet and forming a heat-insulating partition between the heat-dissipating unit which is supported by the wall, and the heatabsorbing unit located within the storage chamber beneath said wall, said top insulated wall being provided with at least one substantially vertical groove at its edge for receiving the interconnecting conduits and thereby providing for the removal of the interconnected units from the cabinet in a plane substantially parallel to that of the top insulated wall.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 15 day of January,

FRANK THORNTON, JR.

beneath the base, means for suspending the heat-absorbing unit from the base, said means being fastened to the base at one end thereof, and conduits interconnecting said units, said conduits passing through the suspending means. i

5. In a refrigerating apparatus, a base, a motor, compressor and condenser mounted on said base, an L-shaped pipe suspended from the base, an evaporator fastened to said pipe and conduits passing through said pipe 

